One Word
by secooper87
Summary: Clara wasn't the first to take the Doctor's One Word test — just the first to pass it. Here's the story of someone who failed.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Welcome to Season 4! Cover art created by me (I was trying to learn to use iDraw).

Forgive this author's note, I just finished doing a whole bunch of writing for a wine website (current job, in addition to hotel), which means this note keeps reading like a wine website! Oh well, just go with it.

So, yes, I delayed posting this season because I was hoping to finish it, first. But it looks like that's not going to happen. Mirror Vision wound up being a slightly more complicated story than I thought, with a lot of different psychologies and personas to juggle, different people who act differently depending on what point you find them, etc. So I'm still chugging away at it, but didn't manage to finish, yesterday.

Plus, one of the other stories has a first draft, but is not actually postable, yet. It's littered with comments and notes, which I still need to incorporate. And every so often, when I'm reading through a story I think is done, I'll find a little note saying, "Stuff happens here that I don't feel like writing." Hopefully, I'll write those before I post those stories! (How embarrassing would that be, if I missed one?)

Yep! Looks like two jobs means a lot less time to write stories. So I'm behind. Sorry, everyone.

Anyways, enjoy this story. I think it's one of my best ever. Sporting Doctor overtones, light humor, and a basic plot, it's all piled on top of a juicy core of emotional character development that lingers on the finish.

We start out, oddly enough, with the Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack. Then dive right into 11th Doctor.

I quite like how I wrote the Ninth Doctor, here.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>One Word<strong>

* * *

><p>In the middle of a jubilant, mostly-drunk crowd of people, a blue box appeared as if out of nowhere, with a wheezing groan. A few onlookers turned and watched as the box materialized, clapping and cheering at the stage trick. Most just continued with their own festivities.<p>

The door opened, and out stepped a man in a black leather jacket with close-cropped brown hair, and big ears. He stood in the doorway, a moment, grinning at the clapping crowd around him. Then took a little bow.

"Where…?" came Rose's voice, as she emerged behind him. She stopped, her hand still on the threshold, as she realized they'd materialized in plain sight. "Oh."

"Now, Rose," the Doctor chided, taking her by the hand, "only polite to bow to the people." He bowed again, then waved as the cheers grew. "Thank you! Thank you! Come again next Tuesday!"

"Well, talk about a man who can soak in an admiring public," said Jack Harkness, stepping out of the box and closing the door behind him. The crowd was already dispersing, and Jack winked at the Doctor. "When's my turn?"

"When you're half as impressive as me," the Doctor replied. He threaded his arm through Rose's, and led her off. "For now… better join in the festivities."

* * *

><p>"So you're sayin' this festival is all to do with the fall of some evil empire or somethin'?" Rose asked, sipping something that looked like a milkshake, but didn't taste like it. "Like in Star Wars?"<p>

"Star Wars?" The Doctor seemed affronted. He gestured at the crowds. "I show you actual other planets, with actual alien life and actual people celebrating actual hard-won freedom, and you're comparing it to some Hollywood movie?"

"The Irkoli Empire," Jack said. He whistled, leaning back in his chair. "Even I've heard of that one. Existed a million years before I was born. But still heartless and twisted enough that its legacy lives on long into the future, plaguing the nightmares of a hundred thousand school kids."

Rose looked around herself.

Confused.

For a group of people who were celebrating the fall of an evil empire that had liked to destroy entire planets at a whim, the whole celebration felt distinctly… odd. With people running around selling 'Empire Sweets' and tickets for 'Empire Exhibitions' and demonstrations of 'Unearthed Empire Technology'!

"It doesn't seem like they're celebrating their freedom," Rose remarked. "More like… they're celebrating the Empire itself."

"Well, it's been about…" the Doctor checked his watch, "…five thousand years since the Empire fell. Give or take. Meaning of the holiday's changed a bit since then." He glanced around himself. "First, they celebrated their freedom. Smashed up all the technology and anything that might have represented the Empire. Then, thousand years later, they started digging up all those smashed artifacts and trying to work them out." He waved his hand at the crowds. "Now? With Empire folk-stories the only common ground in a galaxy full of war and conflict? Empire Emancipation Day is more of… a coming together. Celebration of common culture, common heritage."

Jack nodded, as if he'd known this all to start with.

"Oh, yeah," Jack confirmed. "After all. By our time, this whole galaxy's called the Irkoli Galaxy, after the Empire. People are proud of it."

"But… isn't that dangerous?" said Rose. "Lettin' them be proud of something that was evil? They could want to bring it back." She gave a small grin, and leaned in. "Is that why we're really here? To stop them?"

"Nah," said the Doctor, pushing out his chair from the table. "Empire wasn't as bad as the stories make out. You've seen too many movies."

Jack crossed his arms. "Not that bad?" he challenged, nodding at one of the local storytellers, who was explaining to a group of kids all about the great hero who'd shown up and saved them from the evil Irkoli Empire. "So why does everyone I've ever met from this galaxy think otherwise?"

The Doctor shrugged, getting up from the table. "You know how it is," he said. "Hard to weave a great story of a great hero, if you don't invent the big bad wolf to go along with it."

"A great hero who freed everyone in the Empire?" Rose said. She smiled, her tongue poking between her teeth. "What, like you, you mean?"

"No comment," said the Doctor. He slipped a little gizmo out of his pocket, tossed it in his hands, as he turned away. "Back in two shakes. You two have fun."

Rose leapt to her feet. "You're leaving us behind?! You can't just—"

"Time Lord stuff," the Doctor replied. He purposely refused to look back at her, eyes locked on the device, as he started to walk away. "Don't wander off, and keep out of trouble. I'm talking to you, Rose."

Then, in an instant, he vanished into the crowds.

* * *

><p>The next time they saw the Doctor, he was hurrying and pushing through the crowds of people, fast as he could go without breaking into a run. His face looked extremely grave.<p>

"All right, 'nough lolly gagging, you two, time to go," the Doctor said, grabbing them both up by the arms and nearly dragging them off behind him.

"What?" asked Rose, stumbling to catch her footing. "What did you find? Something Time Lord?"

"Don't know, don't want to know, not interested," the Doctor replied, opening up the TARDIS door and darting inside fast as he could manage.

Rose and Jack exchanged an odd look.

But followed him in.

It wasn't until long after everyone else was asleep that Jack crept back down to the console room. And checked to see what the Doctor had been looking for, when they'd landed.

The trace of a TARDIS. A small bit of TARDIS coral, discarded and abandoned for centuries.

"Another TARDIS?" Jack mused.

"Not another," said the Doctor, entering the console room and flipping off the display. He shot Jack a dark stare. "Don't want to pry into my own future, Jack. Never know what you'll wind up findin' out."

* * *

><p><strong>Victorian London<strong>

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><p>"Excuse me!" cried a voice. "You two!"<p>

Madam Vastra and Jenny Flint both looked up, a bit alarmed, from the evidence they'd been examining. A small human blond girl stood at the other end of the alley, looking on at them, curiously.

"Who are…?" said Jenny Flint.

"No one important," the girl said, trying to rush over but hobbling a little on her left foot. She steadied herself, planted a forced smile on her face. "This is normally the part where I'd be bubbly and excited and offer you chocolate, but I don't really feel like…"

Vastra lifted her veil.

Revealing her lizard face to the girl. In plain sight.

The girl paused. Her breath catching in her throat, her eyes going very wide, her face very pale.

"Did… you lose someone?" the girl whispered.

Vastra and Jenny exchanged a confused look.

"The black veil," the girl explained, pointing to it. "And the black dress. I just… thought…" She frowned. Then sighed, shook her head. "Never mind."

"Do you want something?" Madam Vastra demanded.

The girl tilted her head to the side. "I'm familiar with aliens, and I'm wearing anachronistic clothing," she replied, her voice level and even. "It's obvious who I'm looking for. Just tell me where he is, and I'll leave you two alone."

Jenny Flint winced. "You don't mean the—?"

"Of course she does," Vastra cut in. Stepped towards the girl, addressing her. "He's not exactly welcoming visitors with open arms right now, you know."

"So I've gathered," the girl replied. "But I'm not just any visitor. I'm Seo." She crossed her arms, slowly. "And I'm very stubborn."

Vastra looked Seo up and down. Then gave a mumbling grunt, and turned away. "All right, we'll give you the test," she said. Gesturing for Seo to follow. "But whoever you are… just know that the Doctor isn't the person he once was."

Seo followed them, at a distance. Her walk slow and deliberate, a little wobbly.

"Who still is?" she muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Damn, I love this story.

Every chapter just makes you wanna laugh and cry at the same time. Seo's interactions with the Doctor are just... so...!

Well, I'll let you read for yourself.

Enjoy.

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><p>"—of course, on an existential level," Seo explained, in answer to Vastra's first question, "perhaps we're <em>all<em> trying to work out why we're here. What's our purpose? What are we hoping to achieve—?"

"One word," Jenny Flint cut in. Again.

"Not fifty," Vastra added. "Not a thousand. Just _one_."

Vastra raised up her index finger as the number "one", to make the point.

Seo thought a moment. Then, on her own hand, counted the words as she said, "That's rubbish."

She revealed her two fingers to Vastra.

To make _her_ point.

Jenny Flint hid her face in her hands, in utter frustration.

Vastra just gave Seo a hard, cold stare. "Truth is singular," Vastra said. "Lies are words, words, words. We ask you questions, and you give us a one-word answer. That's how it works."

"Did he tell you that?" Seo asked.

"Yes."

Seo thought a long moment. "One word," she repeated. Waggling her index finger. Then began counting out words on her fingers again, "I can lie with one…" she hit the last finger on her hand, then closed it into a fist, and started counting from one, "…word."

She waggled her first-finger counter at Madam Vastra.

"Six isn't one," Jenny Flint muttered.

"It is in base five."

Madam Vastra and Jenny Flint exchanged a look.

Both knew this was getting them _nowhere_.

"And I _can_ lie with only one word," Seo replied, leaning back on the couch. She winced, a little, but covered it up well. "Go on. Ask me who I am. I'll lie."

"Who are you?" Vastra asked, guarded.

"Innocent."

Madam Vastra and Jenny Flint exchanged another look. Not sure how to take this.

"Of what?" Vastra asked.

"'Of what' — that's two words," Seo replied.

"We're asking questions," Jenny Flint put in. "We're allowed to use more than one word."

"Well, that's even more rubbish," Seo said. She stuck out her tongue. "How about I answer using only as many words as you use in your questions?"

"No."

"Or how about—?"

"Look, it's very simple," Vastra cut in. "Either you pass the one-word test, or you don't get to see the Doctor. That's—"

"Why isn't he seeing anyone?" Seo asked.

Jenny counted on her fingers. "That was five words," she said.

"Yeah, but it's a question, and you said questions don't count." Seo leaned forwards a little bit. "So? Why isn't he seeing anybody? Why the rubbish test and the gatekeeper and the twenty questions?"

"The Doctor lost someone," said Madam Vastra.

"Who?"

"A friend." Madam Vastra leaned against the side of her arm chair. "A close one."

Seo said nothing for a long time.

Her face draped in shadow, as she absorbed this.

The clock ticked out the seconds against the wall, behind her.

When Seo spoke again, the voice trembled, just a little. "I'm… done with this." She slowly dragged herself up off the couch. Her eyes fixed on Madam Vastra. "Done with his sulking and his wallowing and his stupid games." She strode over, her eyes blazing. Her voice very low. "He still _has_ friends. He has _you_. While _I_…!"

She stopped.

Stood in place, in the middle of the room.

Her whole body shaking with something akin to utter desperate rage and fury and hurt, like she was about to fall apart, but didn't have the strength left to do it.

She turned away from them.

Headed towards the front door. "Just tell him I need to see him. He'll know I'm not going away."

"We're only allowed to tell him one word," Jenny Flint insisted.

Seo paused, by the doorway. Hand clutching the doorknob. "I don't need any words," she said. "I gave him an action: purposely failing his test." Wrenched the door open. "That's enough."

Then headed out of the house.

* * *

><p>"One word," the Doctor cut in, before Vastra even had time to explain the situation to him. "What's so hard to understand about that? If they give you one word, you tell me. If they can't figure out the test — I have no interest in them."<p>

"She flunked it on purpose," said Vastra. "She seemed to think that action would mean something to you."

"I don't care what she thought, so long as she…!" The Doctor paused. Then spun around, to face Vastra again. "Unless it's…" His face bent into thought. As if trying to weigh the possibility he might be right. "This person. Blond, short, rambles incessantly, offers everyone chocolate, acts a bit like me but nowhere near as clever?"

Vastra nodded.

The Doctor gave a small laugh, beneath his breath. "Figures. She's never been one for tests."

"You know her?" Vastra confirmed. "This… 'Seo'."

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said. "Very much so." He turned back to the central console. "Just wish you hadn't told me she was here," he muttered. "I'm not supposed to get involved with the world. And she'll—" He froze. Then spun around. "Where is she, now?"

"I don't know," Vastra replied. "She said she wasn't playing your games anymore, and left."

The Doctor pushed past Vastra. "Which, knowing her," he said, walking to the doors of the TARDIS and throwing them open, "means she followed… you…"

He stopped. Frowned, as he discovered no one lurking beyond the TARDIS doors.

"I wasn't followed," said Vastra.

"No, you weren't," the Doctor said, softly. Looking out into the distance. "But that's not like…" He hesitated in the doorway. Then grabbed up his coat, and shrugged it on over his shoulders. "Well, then. Better track her down myself and make sure she leaves. She can be extremely stubborn when she decides she's right."

Vastra hurried after him. "But… who is she?"

"Considering that my goal, at the moment, is not to interfere and not to care," the Doctor called back over his shoulder, as he descended down to the earth below, "I'd say she's my greatest antagonist!"

* * *

><p>"Doctor, sir!" Strax announced, frog marching in the blond girl. "I have found and secured the prisoner!" He turned to her. "Welcome to this home. Obey, or you will be obliterated!"<p>

Seo didn't seem quite so chatty, this time around. She looked tired and weary, marching in front of Strax, her every step labored and slow.

When she spotted the Doctor, she tried to hide it, standing up tall and planting an overly exuberant grin on her face.

"Hello!" Seo said.

"First off — leave," the Doctor demanded, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Second off — what are you doing here and how did you possibly manage to work out where I was? Third off — leave. And fourth off — leave."

"Without even offering me tea?" Seo said. "That's hardly fair! I came all this way — you could at least pretend you're happy to see me."

"I'm not happy to see you," the Doctor said, putting his hands on her shoulders and spinning her around. "I only came down here to make sure you left!" He shoved her towards the door. "Now! No excuses, no…"

He trailed off.

As Seo nearly fell flat on her face, barely managing to catch herself on the back of an arm chair. Her teeth gritted and face pale, as if trying desperately to hold back a scream of pain. Her hand trembled on the chair.

"You're injured," the Doctor said.

Seo planted an affronted look on her face. "No!" she insisted. She finally managed to right herself, standing on her own two feet, independent of the arm chair. But she seemed shaky. "I'm fine. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Sure they'll heal up in no time." Seo tried to step forwards, but sucked in a sharp breath. "How are you? You look more… Victorian than I remember. With the top hat and the waist coat."

"I… I'm… retired," the Doctor said. Almost mumbling the words, half-heartedly. As he noticed the discoloration around her neck and the splotchy redness in her eyes. "No more dealing with people. No more saving the world. No more getting involved."

Then realized he was really mucking up the stoic, didn't care in the slightest image, and cleared his throat, standing up straighter.

"Which means I'm staying here," the Doctor demanded, stalking towards her, finger in her face, as she stumbled back, "and you are heading right back to the twenty-first century so I can—"

Seo gave a sharp cry, as one of her backward steps slipped, twisting her leg grotesquely. She flailed around, to catch herself, but was too weak, and tumbled.

Vastra and Jenny darted out to catch her, but the moment they touched her shoulder blade, she gave a dull moan, her eyes rolled up in her head, and she passed out.

Completely unconscious.

The Doctor's eyes went wide, and he raced over to her, trying with his sonic before recalling that it gave him no readings.

"Her… leg's broken," Jenny said, examining it. She looked up at the others. "She's been walking on it the whole time, and never said a word."

"The mark of a true warrior!" Strax declared. "Never show fear in the face of your enemies! Or… your friends. Or… anybody else."

The Doctor looked up at the others. "She's not all right, at all. These should have healed, by now. And they're not close." He twisted a few settings on his sonic, activating the more dimensionally subtle settings he'd installed after meeting her, and checked again. Then tore off the sleeve of her baggy sweatshirt, to reveal…

A large patch of blistered, red-raw burned skin all covering the upper-left shoulder blade of Seo's back.

Jenny and Vastra both started, in alarm.

"She never said," Vastra breathed. She turned to the Doctor. "She seemed fine. We didn't know there was anything wrong. She made it seem like… she was…"

"Oh, Seo always lies," the Doctor muttered. "Must get it from me. Along with the astounding, unrivalled brilliance, which she also gets from me — although, in her case, it's more of a work-in-progress."

"Gets from…" Jenny repeated.

Then she and Vastra exchanged a look. As it dawned on both of them, all at once, who this was.

The Doctor gently maneuvered Seo to the ground, then bent over her, checking her pupils and measuring her pulse. Shook his head. "Too slow a response," he said. Gritted his teeth. "That silly, stupid child! Must have used up all her energy sealing off some… time breach or dimensional rift. Didn't leave herself enough strength to heal. And now she comes crying to me, begging me to interfere and solve all her problems!"

"She's… she's your… child?" Jenny said.

The Doctor looked up. "That a problem?"

"No, just… I mean, I didn't think…" Jenny tried to clear her thoughts. "Who's the mother?"

"Ah," said the Doctor. Scooping up Seo into his arms. "Long story. Complicated. Won't answer now. Or ever, come to think of it." He looked down at the drained girl. "All right, Seo. I'll get you to the TARDIS and heal you up." He turned, to address the others. "But that's it! I'm done with looking after other people, done caring, and done interfering with other people's lives. And that goes double for her!"

They all gave him the same pointed look.

"Oh, shut up," the Doctor said, leaving the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Yuck, got sick. Still trying to do right by you guys and upload this chapter, though.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Seo smiled.<p>

She couldn't open her eyes. Felt drowsy and drained. But she was warm. Like something was glowing inside of her, warming her up from the inside. Like tea on a winter's day, or sipping hot cocoa while out in the snow.

Then she felt hands around her. Picking her up and carrying her.

Out of the warmth.

Into the cold.

Seo struggled, faintly. Whining, wanting the warmth back.

"Shh," soothed a familiar voice. "Can't keep you in there too long, at once. Not safe, even for you."

She drifted off.

Felt it, a few more times. That warmth, followed by the hands and the coldness. Once, even a small laugh, and, "Soaks it up like a sponge."

She was barely aware.

Not until the moment she woke up. Bolting upright, and finding herself in some sort of futuristic medical area, with her father sitting in the corner, a huge pair of glasses on his nose, as he flipped through a book on the quantum possibilities of multi-dimensional causal loops.

"Back with us?" the Doctor said. He regarded something in the book, a little longer, then tucked in a bookmark and set it down. Sprung to his feet. "And very nicely healed. Just a few concentrated doses from the Eye of Harmony to replenish your energy, and you could get on with healing yourself. Good as new!"

Seo looked down at herself.

He was right. Her leg wasn't broken, the burn on her shoulder had vanished, and she felt better than she had for quite a while, now.

"Which means," the Doctor said, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off the medical bed, "it's time for you to _leave_!"

Seo jerked her hand away from his. Her face tumbling into a small pout.

"You're not happy to see me?" she asked.

"No, I'm not," the Doctor replied. "In fact, there are few people in the universe, right now, that I'd like to see less than you." He slung an arm over her shoulders and guided her out the door. "I'd rather run into the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Evil Knight Kloteim—"

"The who?"

"An insane half-man half-Mim result of a botched genetic experiment," the Doctor said. "He runs around eating people's entrails."

Seo halted in place.

Turning wide, dark eyes on him.

"And I'm worse than all those people, in your eyes?" she said.

"What? No! Not 'worse'. I just meant…" The Doctor scratched his chin. "Actually, that did come out a bit wrong, didn't it?"

Seo stood her ground.

"Look, what would it take to get you to leave?" the Doctor said, slumping a little in place. "Reverse psychology? Positive incentives? I'll give you the coordinates of a planet made completely out of chocolate, if you leave."

"Is this why you created that rubbish test?" Seo asked, quietly. "So you could send people away without having to tell them to their face?" Her voice went even softer. "Have you been alone in here?"

The Doctor knew he shouldn't have gone to see her.

Not just because she'd called him out.

But also because it made it so much worse, looking into those large brown eyes… the eyes that artists would work for so many years, trying to perfect…

The Doctor turned away from her.

"You have to go," he decided. "Now. I'm retired. I don't get involved."

Seo didn't move.

And didn't say a word.

Somehow, her silence was even more accusatory than if she'd spoken.

"What's happened has happened!" the Doctor insisted. "I can't change it. I don't care. Time to just let the world and the universe and time get on with what they were doing! Stop trying to fight fate."

He kept waiting for her to say something.

And she kept failing to.

"You should be happy!" the Doctor cried. "I'm not following you around the universe, anymore! I'm just… just…" He whirled around, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. "Why are you being so quiet?"

Seo planted a ponderous expression on her face.

Then leaned in.

Whispered, "It's my no-word test. Do you like it?"

The Doctor stumbled back away from her, now thoroughly irritated. "That's it! I've had enough!"

"What? Of my being ridiculous?" Seo tilted her head to the side. "Or of my taking after you?"

He grabbed her up and pushed her into the console room. "Out! Out! Out! Time to go! No dilly-dally! No dawdle! Just… gone!"

Seo stumbled into the console room, but managed to duck out of the way of his next few pushes, so he couldn't bodily throw her out of there.

"Is this what you do to everyone, now?" Seo said. "Or is it me? Am I a special case? Because, about what happened right before I came here — it's not like you think, I didn't—"

"Retired!" the Doctor cut in, before she could let slip something that might get him involved in the world, again. "Retired! Retired! Retired!"

Seo didn't answer.

But her expression grew even sadder.

"Fine! Fine! You can be a special case!" the Doctor said, opening up the TARDIS' outer doors for her. "Anything you want. Just get out of here, don't come back, and… and… stop doing that twisty sad stare! That's mine!"

She didn't stop.

If anything, the twisty sad stare grew even deeper, as she took a step forwards, towards the doors of the TARDIS.

Then she paused.

"You… really don't like me, do you?" she asked. Her voice wavered, as she said it. She swallowed, hard. "So why did you heal me when I was hurt?"

The Doctor couldn't answer that.

Which meant he started trying to bundle her out of his TARDIS even faster than before.

"Live your life!" the Doctor told her. "Go wherever you're going to go. Do whatever you're going to do. Doesn't matter to me." He finally managed to shove her out the door, onto the little cloud outside his TARDIS. "I'm giving you your independence, now. Make the most of it!"

With one final shove, he managed to get Seo out of his TARDIS.

She turned around. Her feet surrounded by the drift of swirling cloud. Her eyes still wide and sincere and a little sad.

"Even if you don't like me, anymore," Seo said, very quietly, "I still love you. I just wanted you to know that."

Just seeing her stand there, staring back at him… being just so Seo…

The Doctor slammed the TARDIS doors shut.

Standing by the doors, a moment. Trying to suppress a complex myriad of emotions surging up inside him, trying to convince himself that he didn't care and it didn't matter and he was fine leaving things just like that!

He couldn't.

Swung open the doors, again, sticking his head outside. To find Seo still standing there, waiting — as if she'd known he'd come back out.

"Look, what do you want from me, Seo?" the Doctor snapped. "What crisis are you dragging me into this time? Is the universe ending? Is the world being ripped apart? Or have you just made some miserable mistake as usual, and want me to swoop in and undo it for you?"

Her reaction to the last suggestion told him everything he needed to know.

"Well, fix it yourself," the Doctor replied, swinging the TARDIS door shut. "I'm retired!"

It closed with a bang.

The Doctor swung around, to head back into the TARDIS. His head down, muttering beneath his breath. Then swung back, heading towards the door. Then stopped. Torn between the two directions.

Gave a frustrated shout.

And stormed back to the doors, swinging them open. "I said I'm not clearing up your messes, anymore!" the Doctor told Seo. "You can't just run here every time you need me to—"

"I could make you dinner," Seo offered.

The Doctor paused. Blinked. "You… what?"

"Just… so we can… talk," said Seo. She fidgeted, dragging her foot along the cloud-ground, making the vaporous coating puff beneath her shoe. "Catch up. About things."

The Doctor brushed floppy hair out of his eyes. "Things."

"I can tell you about Martha and Mickey," Seo proposed. "And Luke and Sarah Jane and everyone else back home. And we… can… invite your friends, too! Strax and Vastra and Jenny. It can be like… a dinner party!"

She'd dropped the sad stare completely, now. Replaced with a kind of desperate, overeager expression. Like she was trying to pull one over on him, drag him out and get him involved, again. Make him care.

The Doctor sighed.

Then closed and locked the TARDIS door behind him.

"Not getting involved," the Doctor repeated to himself. Storming deeper into his TARDIS. "Not going to care what happens to her! Not going to mind in the slightest! Never, ever, ever again!"

Best thing he could do with Seo was just forget her. Pretend she never existed!

Because the thing was…

She should have been different from the others. Should have been the exception to the rule.

But she wasn't.

Ace had told him as much already.


	4. Chapter 4

Seo was all excitement and bubbly happiness, when she arrived back at Jenny and Vastra's.

Whirling through the kitchen like a tornado, grabbing pots and pans and things and trying to cook everything at once.

"It'll be the most brilliant dinner party ever!" Seo was saying, trying to stir a bunch of ingredients together in a bowl beneath her arm, while also reaching on tip-toes to get some oil from the top shelf of a cabinet.

Whatever was on the stove started smoking.

Jenny raced over and grabbed it off the burner. Seo turned to see what had happened, her hand knocking the salt off the shelf and smashing off the lid, so it all landed right smack in the saucepan Jenny was holding.

"Oops," said Seo, grabbing up the saucepan so she could brush away the salt. "I'm sure I can—"

She lost her grip on the mixing bowl, which tumbled out of her arms and shattered across the floor, bits of gloopy food mixture splattering across the kitchen.

Jenny and Vastra stared at the kitchen that was rapidly turning into a disaster area.

"All right, so… that's my cake idea gone," Seo said, looking at the mess on the floor. Then back at the saucepan. "And the vegetable dish." She shrugged. Then threw the saucepan in the air, clearly aiming for the sink — but missing by a few inches. "But that's fine! That's why I started early! I'll just… improvise! Begin all over again!"

"No!" shouted Vastra and Jenny, leaping out to catch her before she could cause any more damage.

Seo spun around to face them.

The look in her eyes so completely innocent and hopeful, neither Jenny nor Vastra were really sure how to say no to her.

"I have to make him something!" Seo insisted, with a grin. "Like Mom!" She ducked out of their grips, and leapt over the mess on the floor. "Whenever I'm lonely and upset, Mom makes me a special dinner with all the things I like best." She kicked a piece of broken glass out of the way, reaching for a new mixing bowl. "And then half-way through cooking dinner, something always comes up and monsters attack and the world nearly ends, but it's okay, because she's Mom and…"

Seo stopped.

Her grin melting off her face.

Then her eyes went wide, as she raced over to the other end of the kitchen. "Flour! I need flour! Or baking soda. Or baking powder. Or maybe foot powder."

It was becoming pretty clear that Seo, like her father, went in for the danger and excitement and didn't like cleaning up after herself.

Although the Doctor was at least a competent cook.

"Seo," said Jenny Flint, catching Seo by the arm, again. "Just… before you start destroying our kitchen, again. Think about this. What if he isn't coming?"

Seo looked at her as if she were insane. "He is."

"The Doctor… isn't… himself, right now," Vastra supplied. "He's… upset."

"Well, that was pretty obvious," Seo replied. Shaking back her hair, and raising up her head to look self-important. "That's what happens when you lose someone. You get depressed and need cheering up." She turned back to the second mixing bowl, plucking it out of the cabinet. "Which is why I'm cooking dinner."

"I don't think you understand," said Madam Vastra.

"I always understand everything perfectly!" said Seo, grabbing up ingredients. "I'm brilliant!" Then pausing, looking down at the cluster of items. "No vanilla extract." She beamed, then grabbed up another bottle. "I'll use vinegar! That's a bit like vanilla, right? It starts with the same letter!"

Jenny Flint lunged forwards and grabbed the vinegar away from her.

"We're sorry," said Jenny Flint. "But he's really not coming. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment."

"He is coming," said Seo, yanking the vinegar away from Jenny Flint. "Because I said so. And whatever I say goes!"

Then dumped the vinegar into the mixing bowl, and raced over to add the rest of the ingredients.

Thick black smoke began to billow from the oven.

And Vastra and Jenny exchanged weary looks. Knowing… this was going to be a very long and tiring exercise… in frustration and disappointment.

* * *

><p>"No, just <em>one<em> fork on the right, _one_ spoon and _one_ knife on the left!" Seo said, scrambling to shove napkins out and get the table all set. "What you're doing is too confusing! Who needs that many spoons and forks and things?" She nearly knocked over a wine goblet, but Vastra caught it before it could roll and shatter on the floor.

"One place setting for every course, I believe," said Jenny Flint, continuing to set out the utensils. "That's the tradition."

"In a society that hasn't even invented the dishwasher, yet?" Seo shook her head. "Victorian London. It's like another planet!"

Vastra finished setting out the wine goblets, and Jenny finished setting the table. Seo raced over with the candelabra, and Strax, with his trusty flamethrower, lit the candles in a single burst of firepower.

"I love that thing," Seo said, shoving the candelabra down in the center of the table.  
>Then she fiddled with and adjusted her outfit — borrowed from Jenny Flint, who was closest to Seo's size — trying to get all the skirts and petticoats in order. Brushing a hand through her hair.<p>

"How do I look?" said Seo, spinning on Vastra and Jenny.

They both looked at one another, uneasily.

Then back at Seo.

"He's not coming, Seo," said Jenny Flint, softly. "I'm sorry."

Seo wasn't listening, though. "Of course he is!" she said. Racing around to her spot at the table, and sitting down. "He's just running a bit late. That's all. Which is good, because we're also running a bit late. So we'll all be running late, together!"

They waited.

And waited.

An hour passed.

The clock struck eight, and Madam Vastra and Jenny Flint decided to start eating, anyways. Or, rather… picking and choosing the slightly edible parts from the not-even-remotely touchable parts.

Strax ate everything.

Seo… nothing.

"What if he turns up," Seo explained, "and we've already eaten, and he has to eat alone? That wouldn't be very nice!"

"He's not coming," said Madam Vastra.

"He is," Seo replied. Her eyes fixed stubbornly out the window. "He was probably on his way here when he wound up… having to save the universe or something! He'll be here any minute, now. Just wait and see."

"He's sealed himself away from the outside world," Madam Vastra said. "We've tried to get him to come out, Seo. He won't. He won't risk getting hurt again."

"He will come!" Seo insisted. Folding her arms on the table, in front of her. "Trust me. He has to."

The clock chimed nine.

Then ten.

Then eleven.

When the clock rolled around to midnight, Strax was lying face-down on his plate. Snoring. Jenny Flint was leaning into Madam Vastra, with a tired yawn.

And Seo was just staring, expectantly, at that door.

Her hope falling with the chime of the clock.

"He's… not coming, is he?" said Seo, softly. She drooped, her hair spilling shadows across her face. "He really meant it when he said… he wanted me to just leave."

"I'm sorry," said Madam Vastra.

Seo nodded. But there was something so bitterly lonely and sad on her face, Vastra felt… she couldn't just leave it at that. Couldn't just leave this girl to feel as if her father… had shoved her out of his life.

"I'm sure he cares about you very much," said Vastra. "But he doesn't get involved. Not anymore. He stands high above the world, refusing to interfere or have anything to do with it."

Once more, just a glum nod.

"It's very nice of you to try to cheer him up, though," Jenny Flint added, quickly. Stifling another yawn. "Even if you destroyed most of our kitchen to do it."

"But… the truth is," Madam Vastra continued, "if the Doctor won't even leave his ship to save the world… he was never going to leave it to attend a dinner party. Not even if it had contained any edible—"

"Not even one you'd worked really hard on," Jenny Flint cut in.

Seo got up from the table.

Her head down, eyes on the floor.

"Can I stay here, for the night?" she asked, in a small voice. "I… need to think."

They gave her a bedroom. Stood outside, after she'd shut the door, worried they'd hear her sobbing or upset or possibly breaking things. But they heard nothing.

Just the sound of gentle footsteps.

Pacing, across the floor.

"This might be the cruelest thing he's done, so far," Madam Vastra muttered, as they left Seo to her own devices. "Even if he's stopped caring, even if he's decided not to involve himself with the world… I'd never have expected _this_ of him."

"He used to be so… kind," said Jenny Flint.

Madam Vastra opened the door to their bedroom. "Used to," she agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, they discovered the bedroom in which they'd left Seo… was empty.  
>There was no sign of her.<p>

Not a trace.

"Maybe she left," said Jenny Flint.

"Well, for a cloneling, she was strange person, but a good cook!" Strax declared, finishing up the leftovers from the previous night. "May she slaughter her enemies during all her future travels!"

Jenny Flint and Madam Vastra had prepared themselves breakfast.

Were trying not to think about the previous night.

"I'm sure she'll get over it," said Madam Vastra. "She's probably somewhere far away, by now. Getting on with her life."

"Actually, I'm about a meter behind you," came a voice from the entryway.

They all looked up.

And found Seo standing there, wearing a striped, collared cream shirt, a tweed jacket, and a pair of brown trousers with black boots. Her hair was pulled back with a bright red ribbon that looked… almost… like a bow tie.

They all stared.

Seo looked down at herself. "I think the alterations worked out well," she said, running her fingers along the new seam that she'd sewn into the jacket, to get it to fit her right. "I couldn't do the trousers, but I found some of my own that looked pretty similar."

"You…" said Jenny Flint.

"Oh, and I found this!" said Seo, yanking something out of the pocket. A long, thin tube of… something. "It's not exactly a sonic screwdriver," she apologized. "But I think a _Harry Potter_ novelty wand can be every bit as impressive, in the right hands! I bought this one when the last book came out!"

"What's a… Harry Potter?" Madam Vastra asked.

"And why are you dressed like the Doctor?" Jenny Flint added. She pointed to the hair-ribbon. "Does he know you've stolen his bow tie?"

Seo's face lit up, as she bounced on her toes. "I told you I needed to think, last night," she said. "So I did! And I realized… if both my parents are… well, you know… then someone needs to step in! Save the world for them!"

Her eyes twinkled, as she burst forwards.

Offering herself up.

Madam Vastra and Jenny Flint weren't really sure what to say to this. Thinking of the utter and complete devastation in their kitchen, yesterday. The way the Doctor had spoken about her mistakes and failures in the past. Even just the way she'd shown up here.  
>Perhaps they'd be better saving the world by themselves.<p>

With no help at all.

"What?" said Seo, picking up on their unease. "I can save the world! I'm brilliant, and… and… I have a Harry Potter novelty wand!" She brandished it at them. "See?"

"She could help Strax with his… war game simulations," Jenny Flint suggested to Vastra.  
>Strax examined Seo, carefully. Then stepped back. "The female cloneling is very small and scrawny. She will be highly inadequate in any wartime campaign."<p>

Seo looked between them all. Her face falling, as she understood.

"You don't want me, either," she said. Dropping the novelty wand by her side. "You just want me to go away and never come back. Like everyone else."

"No!" said Jenny Flint and Madam Vastra, together.

"Listen, Seo, you seem… very sweet," Jenny Flint offered, "and I'm sure you're trying to do the right thing, but…" She gestured at Seo's getup. "Dressing up like that doesn't make you the Doctor."

"What we do is dangerous," Madam Vastra added. "Complicated. Not just anyone can leap into the middle of it and make things work out all right. We wouldn't want you… to get hurt."

Seo looked down at the Harry Potter novelty wand.

Then set it aside on the table.

"I didn't actually want to become Father," she admitted. "I just stole his clothes because I knew it would annoy him." She flumfed her ponytail. "Especially the bow tie."

This seemed to put Jenny Flint and Madam Vastra more at ease.

"But I can still come with you two, right?" said Seo. "Investigate and help out and save the world? I don't have to do anything important. I can just be the tea girl!"

Jenny Flint frowned. Opened her mouth to speak.

Madam Vastra cut in, first.

"We need to talk this over," Vastra told Seo.

Then put her arm around Jenny Flint, leading her aside, to where Seo couldn't overhear.

"You know why she's really doing this!" Jenny whispered to Vastra. Eyes flicking over to Seo, who'd now started up a conversation with Strax. "The Doctor made her feel like she didn't matter. She wants to prove to him that she does!"

"Yes," Madam Vastra admitted.

"And you saw what she did, just trying to cook a simple meal!" Jenny Flint continued. "Whoever she is, whatever she thinks of herself, she isn't the Doctor. She can't do what he can — and you know she'll try."

"Yes."

"We need _the Doctor_," said Jenny Flint. "Not her. If we bring her along, she'll just get herself hurt, again."

Madam Vastra's eyes lingered on Seo. "Did you notice how upset he was," she muttered, "when he found out she was injured?"

Jenny Flint frowned.

"_This_ is why he's overeager to send her away," said Vastra. "Because he _really_ cares about her. And he knows, if she stays here, she'll want to save the world. Throw herself into the thick of it and get into trouble. And — when he finds out she's in danger — he'll _have to _come and rescue her. Break his isolation."

Jenny Flint's eyes went wide. "But…!"

Madam Vastra shushed her, softly. Sneaking a glance back at Seo. "We keep her with us," said Vastra. "Indulge her a little, let her try to save the world. Perhaps… that'll be better for all of us, in the end."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! All I can say in response is... read on and see! :-)

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"So what are we investigating?" Seo chirruped, skipping alongside them. "Is it a mystery? Does it have to do with aliens? Or other-dimensions? Or hell demons? Once, I met this hell demon, and he was—"<p>

"Actually, we're investigating the disappearance of a certain… Mr. Gerald Keating," said Madam Vastra, calmly. Her dark veil drawn over her face, so that the general public couldn't see her lizard features. "A normal-looking man, by all accounts. Ran a small chemist's shop, no wife, no children. But he had a penchant for selling… scavenged alien artifacts, on the side."

Seo took this in. Her face bending into concentration. "Dangerous ones?"

"Any alien artifacts can be dangerous in the wrong hands," said Jenny Flint.

"We'd been trying to stop him for some time," Madam Vastra explained. "But he always manages to slip through our fingers. We did originally ask for help from the…" She paused. Then muttered, "But _he_ never helps anymore."

And dropped the subject.

They arrived in the chemist's shop where Keating used to work. Jenny Flint and Madam Vastra searching for clues. Trying to work out what could have happened.

Jenny Flint waved her wife over, pointing at something in the wall.

Yanked down a book from the bookshelf.

And it swung open.

"Secret door," Madam Vastra confirmed. Following Jenny Flint into the back room. "Well done."

They examined the artifacts, carefully. Looking them all over, Madam Vastra offering her best guess on what they were and what they might do. Jenny Flint glancing back at Seo, who was holding one of the artifacts in her hand, very quiet. Her face… expressionless.

"Very clever, you said," Jenny Flint hissed.

Madam Vastra snuck a peak at Seo. "Perhaps… she's thinking?"

Jenny Flint nodded. Then stood up straight, smoothing down her skirts. And strolled over to Seo, a friendly smile on her face.

"What's that?" Jenny Flint asked, pointing at the orb in Seo's hand.

Seo jumped at Jenny's voice. Spun around, only just seeming to register Jenny was there. "What's what?" She looked down at her hand. "Oh. That." She shrugged. Then tossed it over her shoulder. "No idea."

Madam Vastra dove for it, catching it before it hit the ground. Just in case it was something dangerous that Seo shouldn't be tossing about.

"I was just thinking," said Seo. "All this… it's just bits and bobs. Odds and ends. Rubbish!" She kicked a metal contraption, which broke apart under her foot. "None of this actually seems to _be_ a thing. Just… pieces of a thing."

"And many pieces can be compiled to create a whole," said Madam Vastra.

"But only by someone who knows the technology," Seo qualified. "None of this, by itself, would have gone off randomly and vaporized this Keating bloke. In fact, I'd say that in order to build something using any of this, you'd need to already have some alien technology stashed away. Which means… even if Keating didn't have any sense, he'd work out what was going on, and begin stocking up on…" She rushed over to the shelves. And began picking up all the carefully labeled items. Examining each in turn.

"It means the people who bought from him were already alien collectors," said Madam Vastra.

Seo laughed. "What? No!" She spun around, showing them two handfuls of items. "Keating worked out the perfect business model! This isn't an alien technology emporium! It's a spare parts shop for alien spacecraft!"

"Spare… parts?" said Jenny Flint.

Seo dropped the items on the ground, save for one. Which she tossed at Jenny Flint, who caught it.

"Most of this stuff I can't identify," Seo admitted. "But that bit… and a few others… I recognize. That's a power converter with a flux limiter. And this one," tossing another part at Jenny, "is a sparking trigger for a starter motor."

Madam Vastra looked over at Seo, a bit intrigued.

"Torchwood's around, at this point in history, right?" Seo said. "I'm guessing most of the really good bits went to them. While this Keating bloke got whatever was left over. Made a modest living out of it."

Jenny Flint and Madam Vastra both froze, at mention of Torchwood.

Exchanging nervous looks.

"You think… Torchwood's involved in this?" Madam Vastra confirmed.

If Torchwood was involved, then they'd probably have to give the case up. They were all too familiar with Torchwood's treatment of alien life forms, and neither wanted to risk Vastra getting anywhere close to them.

Seo thought it over. "Possibly," she said. "Then again… by Jack's account, while Torchwood did shoot a lot of aliens at this point in time — Jack was pretty clear that Torchwood didn't tend to kill people who'd be missed."

"Keating could have been recruited," Jenny Flint offered. "To the Torchwood team."

"Could have been," Seo admitted. She stepped forwards, analyzing all the shelves, closely. Then all the items on the shelves. "This is very neat and tidy. Every item numbered, tagged, and then kept in its proper place."

"Yes, well, _some_ people do believe in tidiness," Madam Vastra muttered. Thinking of their kitchen.

"We've seen items missing," Jenny Flint offered. "Numbers skipped. Probably items he'd sold on."

Vastra stepped, cautiously, alongside the shelves. Her eyes fixed on their labels. "Then we make a list of the missing numbers," she decided. "There are too many items here for him to have memorized all their codes. He must have written down what they stood for, or at least where he found them. We could try to reconstruct—"

Seo was already out the door.

Grabbing up a fire-axe, as she left.

A crash of splintering wood sounded from the main shop.

And Seo re-emerged, seconds later, with a series of ledger accounting books, all neatly ordered and stacked.

"We match them all up against these," Seo replied. Tossing Jenny Flint the spare ledgers, and flipping through the one in her hands. "If he's that neat and tidy, he'll have accounted for everything he sold." She skimmed her finger down the page. "We work out who he sold them to, and what… he…"

Seo paused.

A deep frown settling across her face.

"That's odd," said Seo. She looked up at Madam Vastra. "This… Keating. You sure he was human?"

"He smelled human," said Madam Vastra, coming over to Seo. Leaning down to look in the ledger book. "Why?"

Seo pointed. "He's very specific with the names of all the parts. Almost like… he knows the ins and outs of alien space ships."

"But… how would he have acquired that knowledge?" said Madam Vastra, squinting at the book. "Unless an alien was helping him."

Jenny Flint flipped through one of the books Seo had handed her. Then cried out, in triumph.

"Or," Jenny Flint proclaimed, "Edward Grover."

Madam Vastra looked up.

Jenny Flint had turned the book around, pointing at accounting journal entry she'd been analyzing. Written in neat handwriting, Keating had recorded, "Sold item 412, Jezobian facetted bolt set, to Mr. Edward Grover."

Seo looked between Jenny Flint and Madam Vastra, confused.

"Edward Grover," Vastra explained, "is a very rich collector of alien artifacts. He used to work for Torchwood, before he became disillusioned and stepped down. He guarded against their attempts to wipe his memory by using his connections to government officials."

"We've worked with him before," said Jenny Flint. "Used his knowledge to help us save the world. If something's happened, here… perhaps Mr. Grover would know about it."

So off they headed.

To confront Mr. Grover.

* * *

><p>The Doctor was frantically digging through the TARDIS.<p>

Trying to work out where his jacket had gone.

"No," said the Doctor, flinging clothes around the wardrobe. Bringing out pinstripe suits and long scarves and panama hats, then throwing them aside. "No, no, no!"

He'd been _certain_ he'd left it in the console room!

But he'd already looked there, and it was nowhere to be seen. Nowhere at all.

"Should have bought a duplicate of the jacket," the Doctor muttered. Bringing out a bin of clothes stuffed together, and pawing through it. "Knew I should have bought a duplicate! Even Amy told me…!"

He trailed off.

Decided he didn't want to think about Amy, anymore.

"At least I still have my sonic screwdriver," said the Doctor, bringing it out of his trouser pockets. Fiddled with the settings. "Perhaps… I could set it to detect some sort of… residual artron energy in the jacket's fibers, or…" He paused. "No, that's daft. That wouldn't work."

But the sonic began to bing, anyways.

"It's clearly picking up on _something_, though," the Doctor muttered, following as the binging got louder and louder, leading him right back to the console room.

He sighed, as he re-entered it.

Turned his glare on the sonic screwdriver.

"Yes, I've already _looked_ here," the Doctor chided the sonic. Waggled a finger at it, as it gave another bing. "And don't give me any of that! I don't even know what you're tracing!"

He still followed the bing sound.

As it led him beneath a pile of discarded items he'd thrown onto the ground, back when he'd _first_ been looking for his jacket.

"I looked here," the Doctor grumbled at the sonic screwdriver. Digging down in the pile. "I'd have remembered finding it. My memory's perfect! Mostly."

He stopped, when he got to the bottom of the pile.

And discovered the note, left for him.

The one the sonic had been carefully guiding him towards.

The Doctor popped back to his feet, note in hand, head bent in alarm, as he read through it.

"Father… dinner party… big disappointment… crushing my hopes and dreams… yada yada yada…" the Doctor skimmed through the rest of the front side. "She does natter on a bit, doesn't she?"

Flipped it over.

His eyes bulged.

"I have borrowed your clothes and made some alterations," the Doctor read aloud, "since you're retired and won't be needing them to be all impressive and save the world anymore!" Then, his voice rising, "The bow tie makes a rather lovely hair ribbon?!"

He scrunched up the note in his hand, slamming it on the floor.

"Oh, you are in so much trouble when I find you!" the Doctor shouted, racing outside in his shirtsleeves. "Everything I've done to the Daleks will be nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you've harmed that bow tie! Mark my words!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Yes, I'd been suspicious of Mr. Keating for a while," said Mr. Grover, as they all sat in his elaborate parlor. He stirred his tea, then sipped it. "I felt it was my duty to drop by, every so often, and… take inventory of the items he'd scavenged. Buy up the more dangerous bits. I thought it best that those bits didn't fall into the wrong hands."

"Dangerous bits?" Seo said, ears perking up. "Like what?"

Jenny Flint shushed her.

As Madam Vastra took over.

"And I assume you monitored his customers and client base, as well?" Madam Vastra said. "Was he in any sort of trouble? Did anyone wish him any harm?"

"Not any particular group I'm aware of," Mr. Grover replied. "Although he did deal with many alien races who'd think nothing of buying a spare part, then vaporizing him where he stood. It's a possibility, I suppose, that we can't discount." He sipped at his tea, again, thoughtfully. "Or are you asking me if he's been recruited by Torchwood?"

"We considered that," said Madam Vastra.

Seo was looking restless and irritated. Constantly hopping from foot to foot, like she couldn't keep still. "Dangerous items that weren't included in the ledger?" Seo tried to interrupt. "Like engine pieces, or weapons systems, or technology inside…?"

Jenny Flint had to put a hand over her mouth, to quiet her.

"He isn't part of Torchwood," said Mr. Grover. "That much I can assure you. I do still keep some tabs on them, after all."

Jenny Flint yelped, as Seo bit down on her hand — not very hard — then slipped out of her grip and surged towards Mr. Grover.

"Item 673!" Seo shouted.

Mr. Grover stared at her. "I beg your pardon?" Snapped his head back to Madam Vastra, who'd gone over to make sure Jenny was all right. "Madam Vastra, who is this… trouser-wearing oaf?"

"On the charts, I saw!" said Seo. "It skips from item 672 to item 674. There's no item 673. It wasn't even catalogued or listed or anything! You said you scooped up dangerous bits of technology before Keating could sell them off. And it was only three days after items 672 and 674 were catalogued… that Keating disappeared."

Mr. Grover got to his feet, anger surging to his face. "Madam Vastra, please remove this… vagrant from my home!" he demanded, pointing at Seo. "I will not have an uncouth, violent, bad-tempered and loud-mouthed—!"

"So you do have it," Seo replied, spinning around on her heel, and racing to the parlor door. "Brilliant! You don't mind if I rummage through your house and your alien artifacts a while, do you? Thanks!"

Jenny Flint and Madam Vastra could only stare for a moment.

An amused look on both their faces, as they looked at the spot where Seo had disappeared.

"Madam Vastra," Mr. Grover roared, "if you don't restrain and detain that ruffian at once, I will have to call in the authorities." He lifted Vastra's veil. "Or… Torchwood, given the circumstances."

Madam Vastra yanked her veil back down. "Is that a threat?"

"It is a very polite reminder," Mr. Grover said, an edge to his voice, "that I only keep your secrets at my own convenience." He pointed out the door to the parlor. "And I will not have that… dishonorable wretch traipsing through my home!"

"Then… in that case… we'll be after her and away from here as soon as possible, Mr. Grover," said Jenny Flint, with an officious air.

She took Madam Vastra by the hand, and they began to race after Seo.

"Wait," said Vastra, pausing by a wall. Then, with a surge of Silurian strength, she punched through the wall and wrenched out the telephone wire. Snapping it in half. "So much for threats."

"She's not subtle, is she?" Jenny Flint said, as they both began racing, once again, after Seo. "Antagonizing the villain. Being obnoxious and annoying and confrontational. A little like the…"

"More violent, though," Madam Vastra muttered. "How's your hand?"

"She didn't bite that hard," Jenny Flint replied, as they headed down towards the sounds that were issuing from the basement. Sounds of a chase, and someone laughing a little, as she managed to outrun and wiggle her way out of being caught. "I think she was aiming more to startle me, so I'd loosen my grip, rather than to actually hurt me."

"She's right about one thing," said Madam Vastra. "Mr. Grover is hiding something. Something he took from Mr. Keating, and wanted no one else to know about."

A very loud breaking sound, like someone tearing a door off its hinges, and both Vastra and Jenny ran faster towards the noise.

Faster, still, as they heard the sudden gasps from a group of people, all issuing forth from the room with the steel door off its hinges and lying on its side.

"Dear Lord," said Jenny, pausing to stare at the ripped-off door. "How'd she manage _that_?!"

Madam Vastra raced inside the room, instead.

Stopped, as she approached.

And saw the very sight that had captivated both Seo and all the other servants who'd been chasing Seo around down here.

The sight that had stopped them dead in their tracks.

"A body," said Madam Vastra. One that had tumbled from an unknown bit of alien machinery, and tumbled to the floor. She rushed over, bent down beside Seo, who was examining it. "So. This was where Mr. Keating was, all along."

"It's not him," Seo whispered.

Madam Vastra frowned. Turned the body over, examining the face.

The servants all cried out, stumbling back. As they recognized it. And so did Madam Vastra and Seo. So did Jenny Flint, when she entered the room.

"The body, it's…!" Jenny cried.

"Mr. Grover," Madam Vastra confirmed. "The man we were just speaking to."

* * *

><p>Strax was in the middle of his war game simulations… when he was roughly yanked away from them.<p>

And came face-to-face with the Doctor.

"Where is she?" the Doctor demanded.

Which is how they both wound up down at Mr. Keating's chemist's shop, the Doctor tearing through the clues as fast as he could go, frantically trying to track down one bow tie.

It was clear Seo had been here.

If only from the locked wooden drawer that she'd decided to open using a discarded fire-axe.

"Duplicate receipts," the Doctor said, leafing through the once-locked drawer. He held them to the light. "Edward Grover. Used to work for Torchwood. Remember him."

He threw the receipts over his shoulder, then grabbed up Strax and tugged him along behind.

"That's where they'll have gone," the Doctor decided. "Time to get back that bow tie!"


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Shana Tova everyone!

I have finally, _finally_ finished writing a rough draft of all the stories for this season. Yay! Now I just have to resolve some issues with one of the stories, and then I'm good to go.

Enjoy this chapter.

It's very powerful, and I think it speaks for itself.

* * *

><p>Madam Vastra got up from the floor. Examining the alien contraption that had once housed Grover's body. "There are a number of races out there with body print technology," Vastra commented. "Zygons, for instance. But… I always thought those required the original to still be alive."<p>

"Is that what happened?" said Jenny Flint. "An alien invasion came through, duplicated Mr. Grover, then used his memories to work out Mr. Keating was a threat and eliminated him completely?"

Seo wasn't listening.

Her face was hard.

Her eyes bitter and angry, as she stood up, too. Grabbing up the framed sheet, hanging on the wall, which Mr. Grover had written to catalogue the items in that room. Took a single glance at it.

"Thick, Seo," she muttered. "So thick. How could you not have noticed that?"

"Noticed…?" said Madam Vastra.

Seo didn't explain. She dropped the catalogue, then threw herself out of the room, storming back upstairs, where she caught Mr. Grover attempting to flee from the house.

She grabbed him by the shoulder, spun him around, and smacked him across the face.

"You rogue!" shouted Mr. Grover. "Harlot! How dare you strike a gentleman like—"

Seo actually punched him, this next time.

"Help!" Mr. Grover cried out, struggling to break free. "Police! I'm being assaulted! She's a dangerous—!"

"And _you_," said Seo, through her teeth, grabbing his right wrist and jerking it up, "are right handed."

Mr. Grover froze.

His face showing he'd clearly been caught out.

"No ink smudges on the page, when you wrote," said Seo. "Not like Mr. Grover. His pages are all smudgy and blotchy. Except where you added to his catalogue, at the bottom — in your own handwriting. Mr. Keating."

Madam Vastra and Jenny Flint emerged, along with all the other servants.

"She's mad," Mr. Grover insisted, trying to break free from Seo. "Whoever heard of such a preposterous…?!"

"You found a bit of alien tech still completely intact," Seo interrupted. "Body swapping technology. Mr. Grover tried to take it away from you, but you pushed him inside the machine, instead. Turned it on. Killed him. And then decided to just… become him and steal his life."

"He had it coming," the duplicate Grover muttered. "A wife like that? Perfect little children running to please their daddy? Well, now, they all love and adore me."

The servants gasped.

Seo punched him across the jaw, hard enough to crack it. "I hate you."

He didn't even have time to cry out, before Seo threw him back against the wall.

"I hate you," Seo said, again, her voice icy and raw. Then she sprung at him, kicking and hitting and beating him into the wall. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"

"Seo, stop!" Jenny Flint cried, flipping forwards using her own fighting skills, and deflecting some of the blows.

Seo screamed in frustration, elbowing Jenny Flint away hard enough that she was tossed ten feet through the air and collided with the far wall.

Madam Vastra raced over to her. "Jenny!"

The servants cowered, scared to death and not sure what to do.

"Get… the Doctor…" Jenny muttered, before closing her eyes.

Madam Vastra leapt to her feet. Began to race out the door, fast as she could, not sure what she could say to get him to come fix this…

But the door burst open, before she could arrive.

And there, in the doorway, was the Doctor himself.

"Seo, you are going to…!" the Doctor began. Then stopped.

As he took in Jenny Flint against the far wall. And Mr. Grover's unconscious body lying limp upon the floor — Seo kicking it, screaming, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" over and over again.

The Doctor adjusted his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at her.

The sound pierced the room, everyone doubling over.

Seo shuddering back, hands over her head.

The Doctor rushed out, grabbed her back away from Mr. Grover, as the servants began to flock, trying to assess what was wrong with him.

"Calm down," the Doctor said, dragging Seo away. "Calm down. It's over."

Seo turned to him.

Then burst into violent, passionate sobs, burying her face in his chest. "She's gone!" Seo said. She clung to the Doctor, tightly. "Mom's gone and she's not coming back! I want her back!"

Madam Vastra looked back. At the two of them.

Startled.

As they finally realized… why Seo was really here.

* * *

><p>The Doctor finished scanning Jenny Flint over with his sonic screwdriver.<p>

Examined the readings.

Nodded.

"Minor concussion," said the Doctor. "She'll be fine. Just let her rest."

He got up from the sofa, grabbing up the jacket and bow tie he'd removed from Seo's possession.

"If she's not better soon, take her in to the hospital," he said, going back towards the door. "I'm done, here."

Madam Vastra lunged forwards, and just barely caught him before he escaped.

"What was that about?" Vastra demanded, pointing at the room upstairs, where Seo was still in tears. "Are you just going to leave Seo here?"

"Point taken," the Doctor decided. Eyes lingering back on Jenny Flint. "Better lock the doors and windows. Barricade her in. She'll stop crying and calm down after a bit, and then you can throw her out and she'll leave you alone."

He turned to leave, again.

Madam Vastra dragged him back. "You're proposing we just lock her in?"

"She's not usually dangerous," the Doctor said. "It's just… well, apparently, she's only just lost her mum. She's probably grieving. Give her some time to get over it. She won't hurt Jenny again."

He tried to struggle back out of Vastra's grip, but she didn't let him go.

"Her mother just died," Madam Vastra said. "She's tearing herself apart with grief. And you're just going to… lock her up and walk away?!"

"Yes."

Madam Vastra looked into his eyes. Her gaze filled with reprimand and anger.

He looked away. "You know how young girls are," he said. "If I go up there, she'll just start… being… domestic. Wanting me to fill in. It's better she get over it and—"

"She's lost her mother!" Madam Vastra said.

"And what do you want me to do about that?" the Doctor retorted. "Thwart the laws of time, go back and save her? Figure out where history changed and unpick the stitches leading up to it? Because I tried! And I can't. Seo's mum is dead, and there's nothing I can do to change it." He managed to wrestle his way out of Vastra's grip.

Tossed his jacket over his shoulder.

"There's nothing I can do," said the Doctor. He turned. "So why bother trying?"

Then headed out the door, shuffling down the steps of Madam Vastra's home. Vastra running to the front door, leaning outside.

"And is that all you are now?" Vastra shouted after him. "A cruel, cold man who won't comfort a crying child?"

The Doctor paused. Didn't look back.

"Yes," he decided.

"You've lost someone," said Madam Vastra. "So has she. And whatever you both were like before… that pain and grief has turned you into horrible people. She — who punches and hits. And you — who walks away and lets it happen."

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder. "I can't bring her mum back."

"Did she ever ask you to?"

The Doctor didn't answer.

"You keep trying to convince yourself she's here to make you do something," said Vastra, "because you don't want to admit… maybe she _doesn't_ want anything from you. Maybe she just needs you in her life."

He went very still, at those words.

Then turned back to Madam Vastra, slowly. His eyes dark.

"I can't do anything," the Doctor said. Coming back up the steps. "Not for you. Not for her mum. And certainly… _certainly_… not for her." His voice lowered, as he came face-to-face with Vastra. Growled, "I don't have the answers."

"She didn't come here for answers," Madam Vastra countered. "You're all she has left, Doctor. And she needs someone."

"She never said that."

Madam Vastra met his eyes, evenly. "Yes, and neither will you."

The Doctor looked away.

Then shook his head. Turned. And started to descend the steps, again. "Truth is singular. Lies are words, words, words. And that's all you have for me, now."

Whereas walking away… was no words.

An easy out.

"If you walk away from this," said Madam Vastra, "I'll have only one word left for you, Doctor." She turned back into the house. "Friendless."

Then she closed the door.

And waited to see what he'd do next.

A minute later… he finally made it back to Vastra's front door.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: You remember, of course, that the Doctor still believes that Buffy died in 2001, in the portal over Sunnydale. This is due to a number of misunderstandings in which Buffy accidentally made him think she was supposed to survive the portal, so that when he showed up and found Elizabeth in 2001, he assumed he'd changed history so she'd died.

Buffy's rescuing Seo was what allowed her history to be flexible and changeable, of course. So it does make sense why the Doctor believes Seo blames herself. And, of course, the Doctor feels the blame ultimately lies with him, not her.

Shame of it is, Seo also believes Buffy died in a portal over Sunnydale, just a different one...

Maybe I should do something about that, this season. Hm... anyone notice the name of the last story in this season, yet, from my preview?

Anyways. In this chapter, you'll notice the Doctor refer to something Ace said, in here. You'll find out more about this in a later story, never fear.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Seo wasn't crying, anymore, when the Doctor entered.<p>

Closed the door, awkwardly, behind him. Not sure exactly what to say.

What _could_ he say? What did Madam Vastra expect him to do? Waltz up here and tell her that he was so sorry he got lonely, went back over and over again to visit her mum, and accidentally changed history so she'd died forever?

"Are you all right?" he asked Seo, instead.

She looked up at him.

With eyes that showed just how shattered and miserable she really was.

"I don't need your pity," Seo muttered. She tucked her knees up to her chin, sitting in the center of the bed. "I'm fine."

The Doctor rocked back and forth on his heels. "I… see."

He tried to fish for something else to say.

"Listen, I'm… sorry about your mum," he said, coming over to her. Sitting on the bed, beside her. "I miss her, too."

Seo looked down into her lap. "You already know how she…?" She shook her head. "Of course you do. You know everything."

He wished he did know everything.

He wondered… if she blamed him for what happened to Buffy. Or herself — for being the force that allowed Buffy's past to shift the way it ultimately had.

"It was when Elizabeth came to Sunnydale, wasn't it?" muttered Seo. "I guess… that's when you worked it out." She buried her face in her knees. "No wonder you hate me."

The Doctor sighed. "Seo…"

"I know you do. You tried to leave, just now," said Seo. "I saw you through the window."

Caught out.

Right.

"The only reason you didn't," Seo continued, "is because Madam Vastra's scared that if you don't calm me down, I'll accidentally kill her wife."

The Doctor fidgeted, idly, with his sonic screwdriver.

"I don't hate you," he said, at last.

"Liar."

"I just… don't know what to do with you," the Doctor admitted. "I spent every day watching Amy and Rory, not wanting to admit there'd be a time when they went out and didn't come back. And every second I spend with you, I know there'll be a day when…"

He stopped.

Reconsidered his words.

"What do you want me to do, Seo?" he said. "First you tell me to stop following you around everywhere. Then, when I stop, you come crying back here, complaining I'm not involved enough."

Seo didn't answer.

"So go on," the Doctor said. "What do you want?"

She was quiet for a very long time.

Then, "I don't know."

"If you're here looking for someone to replace your mum," said the Doctor, "then you might as well leave. She was special. Unique. I'm not her."

"I know."

The Doctor blinked. Not really expecting this. "Well… good! I'm glad we're agreed."

"You're meaner."

The words were like a slap in his face.

More so, because he knew… she was right.

"Dinner," the Doctor decided.

Seo looked up at him.

Confused.

"Like you said, yesterday!" the Doctor explained. "Dinner. A chance to talk. Catch up on… Martha and Mickey and Captain Jack and… all the rest of them. Some together time."

"You didn't come, yesterday," Seo replied. Then, a little nervously, added, "And… I don't think your friends will ever let me use their kitchen, again."

"Then… we'll use the TARDIS kitchens!" the Doctor said. Got up from the bed, and extended his hand to her. "Come along."

She hesitated.

Then… took it.

* * *

><p>The Doctor, very soon, discovered why his friends had been so reluctant to let Seo back into their kitchen.<p>

"No, that's not…!" he tried, grabbing for the vinegar. "This doesn't go in cake!"

But Seo had already gotten distracted, as she raced over to the oven. "A gravity knob!" she cried. "I can adjust the gravity in the oven?"

"Yes, but—"

"Can I use it to change the gravity across the whole ship?" Seo said, spinning back to him.

"What? No!"

"But it'd be fun!" Seo cried. "I've never cooked in zero g. And… oh, look! Salsa!" She grabbed for the bottle. "That'd go good in cake, right?"

About three small fires and nine cooking disasters later…

Dinner had been finished.

And they sat down. To eat.

The only sound that of the cutlery clinking against their plates. As both picked at the food on their plates.

Poking at the roast — that was black on the outside, and raw in the middle. The mashed potatoes that Seo had gotten bored with mashing, half-way through, and then overcooked, so they'd become soggy lump potatoes. The vegetables almost unrecognizable as vegetables.

The cake… was…

Well.

Inedible.

So they stayed. In silence. Seo not wanting to admit she couldn't cook. The Doctor realizing that anything he said, at this point, would just hurt her feelings. Neither wanting to admit the food was bad, but neither being willing to eat it.

The Doctor looked down at his plate.

Then burst out laughing.

Seo looked up.

And started giggling, too. She picked up her slice of roast, which wiggled in her hands — for some reason — like jello.

Which just made them both laugh even harder.

"Eat out?" the Doctor proposed, getting up.

"Eat out," Seo decided, taking his hand.

* * *

><p>They wound up at a little pub on a side-street. Sitting together, laughing, as they talked about their lives and the people they both knew in the twenty-first century.<p>

"No!" the Doctor said. "Mickey did that? Mickey the Idiot?!"

"Yes!" Seo insisted. "And then Martha — covered from head to foot in alien slime — spun him around and kissed him right on the lips. And said _this_ is the reason she married him."

The Doctor shook his head. "That's the most ridiculous story I've ever heard!"

"Oh! And I ran into Luke, again," said Seo. "He and Alison met up at University, see. Except there was this Professor whose whole face started turning blue, more and more, especially whenever he ate bacon. So we all wound up investigating, and Sarah Jane even rushed in because she thought we were in danger—"

"And it was a Hronger from Terlep 12?" the Doctor guessed.

"How'd you know?"

The Doctor laughed. "It's what happens when they're pregnant! Don't tell me you saw it giving birth!"

"Sarah Jane helped deliver the baby," Seo replied.

They both broke down in fits of laughter at this.

At the other end of the pub, one of the barmaids looked over. Intrigued by all the laughter. Spotted a man and a young girl, both chatting loudly and enjoying themselves immensely.

She'd never seen either of them around, before.

Nor did she quite understand why they seemed to be telling each other stories of monsters and daring escapes and things as if it were… commonplace. Normal.

"Clara! Service on table two!"

She spun around. Then planted a smile on her face, and got back to her job.

She kept watching them, throughout. Watched as their laughter died down, and their voices went quiet and somber, and the girl looked like she was struggling not to cry. As if the weight of the world were on both their heads, and they just wanted to shut it out because neither of them could deal with the loss that accompanied it.

Clara kept a stealthy eye on them.

But by the time they left the pub, she was busy with other tables. Serving drinks and food and trying not to let the place get too rowdy. Clara only just had time to see the girl look back at her, intrigued, then tug on the man's sleeve and ask if he knew her.

"Nope," said the man.

And they left.

* * *

><p>"You look happy," Madam Vastra commented to the Doctor.<p>

As Seo rushed into the house to greet Strax, who'd been standing around testing out different weights of battle axes. Which was something Seo couldn't help but get excited over.

"Yes, well, bit of chit chat never hurt anyone," the Doctor said. Brushing back his hair out of his eyes. "You don't mind keeping an eye on her, tonight? Probably not best for her to be alone. What with trauma and grief and all that. How's Jenny?"

The requests slammed one into the next into the next.

And Madam Vastra didn't even have a chance to answer, before the Doctor had done it for her.

"Splendid! See? I knew she'd make a full recovery." The Doctor turned around. "Don't worry about Seo. She'll probably be off in the morning. Now that she's happy and content again."

At that moment, Strax and Seo were deep in conversation. Strax holding up a bar of chocolate, not sure what to do with it, and Seo insisting he should eat some and see how he liked it.

Then the tentative bite.

And the sudden realization, by Strax, that chocolate was, indeed, very good. Very, emvery/em good.

"I'll just… check in," the Doctor decided. "To make sure. See if… she needs anything. Before she leaves. Since she's definitely going to be leaving, any time, now."

"You really care about her, don't you?" said Madam Vastra.

The Doctor paused. Then spun around. "I'm not getting involved," he insisted. "This… what I'm doing now… it isn't involvement ! It's completely different!"

Madam Vastra didn't answer.

Didn't have to.

"I'm not saving the world," the Doctor insisted. "Or the universe. Or anything else. I'm just… this is one person. And only temporarily. I'm still retired!"

"You don't want to save the world," Madam Vastra replied. Nodded at Seo, who was now enthusing with Strax over how brilliant it'd be to create a chocolate battle axe that actually worked! "But she does. If she's in danger, are you really going to sit on the sidelines and do nothing?"

"I… well… Yes!" the Doctor replied. "She makes her own choices. It's up to her."

Madam Vastra crossed her arms.

The Doctor stared off after Seo. His face falling.

"I have to go," he said, turning back towards the door, and heading out, fast as he could.

* * *

><p>The Doctor paced around his TARDIS long into the night.<p>

"Don't get involved!" he chided himself. Hands tugging at his hair. "Don't get involved! Don't get involved! You know what will happen if you do!"

He paused.

Hesitated.

"No!" he decided. "No, no, no! It doesn't matter that her mum's dead and it's all your fault. Seo's just… someone's dangerous botched science experiment from another universe. She's not really my child! She isn't even a real person! I don't care what happens to her! I don't!"

He stopped.

In the middle of the console room.

Then spun on the central console. Slammed his hand down.

"Why did Ace have to be right?!" the Doctor shouted. "Why do they always have to be right?!"

He breathed, heavily.

Staring off into the distance. Feeling every last ounce of hope ebb away.

"I should have kept being cruel," the Doctor told himself. "I should never have second guessed! I should have just shoved her out the door and made her want nothing to do with me. I should have…"

He trailed off.

The words replaying themselves in his mind.

_If she's in danger, are you really going to sit on the sidelines and do nothing?_

The Doctor hung his head. "What do I do with you, Seo?" he muttered. "What can I do?"

He knew the answer, already.

He'd have to save her.


	10. Chapter 10

"Yes, I have a whole bunch more chocolate in my ship!" Seo explained, the next morning, racing out through the London streets. "And different flavors, too. Did you know there's a Jalapeno Flavored Kit Kat Bar? I have a box of them!"

"I know nothing of this… 'Jalapeno'," Strax replied. "Is it something that can be obliterated by the might of the Sontaran fleet?"

"Jalapenos?" Seo thought a moment. "Maybe. But no one in the whole universe can obliterate the idea of chocolate. It's just… too… brilliant!"

She turned a corner.

Then stopped.

Frowning.

"I'd beg to differ," said Strax. "Using the latest Misonsphere Grenade, one could obliterate the entire planet Earth, thus eliminating the concept of chocolate for…"

Strax stopped talking, as he noticed Seo's trepidation.

Seo walked up to her ship, which had been surrounded by what looking like a thin, glowing string, all encircling the outside. She reached out, around the string, to try to open the door.

It didn't budge.

"Wonder what that…?" Seo said, reaching for the string, instead.

It buzzed through her, and she stumbled backwards, gasping for air. "What?!"

"Allow me," said Strax.

Then, with a mighty battle cry, he charged, head-first, at the door.

And stumbled back, gasping, as the blue string buzzed him, too.

"Then… then I will open the doors with my mighty Sontaran strength," Strax decided. Went over, and attempted to force open the doors to Seo's ship. Then, using the key, tried again.

They didn't budge.

"Sorry, but… if I can't open them," said Seo, "there's no way you'll be able to."

"Nonsense," said Strax, trying again. "You, little cloneling, are a young and weak female, while I am a mighty Sontaran—!"

Seo grabbed up the steel battle axe Strax had been holding. And bent it in half, like it was made of rubber.

Then handed it back to Strax.

"Weak?" Seo asked, with a grin.

Strax stared at her. Then at the battle axe. Then at her.

"That is actually quite impressive," Strax admitted, taking back the battle axe.

"Yes, and using that kind of strength only turns me into a mindless killer zombie about half the time," Seo replied. "Or… maybe two thirds. Or maybe seven eighths…" She shrugged it off. "But that's not important." She rolled up her sleeves. "What is important… is opening this door."

She stepped up to it. Hands reaching around the blue glowing rope, and gripping the door handle.

Summoning all her super strength.

"Right—!" Seo shouted.

Strax suddenly dove forwards, tackling her to the ground. Seo yelped, arms and legs flailing, as they fell onto the pavement.

And, where she'd just been standing, a beam of light burst up from the ground and surged through the air, disappearing high into the atmosphere.

"What…?" said Seo.

"It was a trap," Strax provided. "To kidnap you. I detected the energy buildup." He grabbed up a mison ray. "I will obliterate the trap for you."

Seo put a hand on his arm.

Then scooted past him, staring down at the spot where she'd been standing.

"You're right," said Seo. "Someone expected me to be standing here, trying to open up my ship. They knew teleports wouldn't work. They were being sneaky."

"Who would want to kidnap you?" Strax asked.

Seo waved off the question. "Oh, most of the universe," she said. "I'll worry about it later. I wasn't planning on using my ship to go anywhere for a while, anyways!"

* * *

><p>The problem was… the kidnapping attempts didn't go away.<p>

And they were getting more and more subtle, too. Seo would be on the doorstep of Jenny and Vastra's house, when she'd suddenly feel light-headed and dizzy, and if it weren't for Jenny Flint tugging her out of the way, she'd have been transported right off the planet.

Another time, she was foiling an alien invasion, and nearly got accidentally sucked onboard their ship by a faulty tractor beam.

Once, she even very nearly wound up stranded on a boat bound for New York!

"All right, this is getting ridiculous," said Seo. She crossed her arms, in a huff, and collapsed onto Madam Vastra's sofa. "Even the Powers that Be had the decency to try to be scary about it, when they kidnapped me. But this… feels more… goofy!"

Strax considered. "I do not know these 'Powers that Be'," he said. "Who are they, and how can they be smashed into their constituent atoms?"

Seo shrugged off the question. "Just some immortal people only I can kill," she said. Her eyes were fixed, off into the distance. "No, this doesn't feel like them. It's more like… people are playing games with me. Mucking about with my life just to prove… they… can…"

Her face bent into an intense frown.

Which was when Jenny Flint raced into the parlor.

"Ah, good, you're both here," said Jenny Flint. A little out of breath. "We have a problem. It's… this man. Dr. Simeon. We're certain he's working on some diabolical plan, although we're not sure what, and…" She trailed off. Realizing that there was something not quite right with Seo. "What is it?"

Seo looked up.

"I think… I've just worked out who keeps trying to kidnap me," she said. She got up from the sofa. "Would you excuse me, a moment?"

* * *

><p>It was starting to snow, by the time Seo made it to the TARDIS.<p>

But that didn't matter much to her.

She knocked on the outside of the door. Then stepped back. Far as she could away, without falling over the edge.

The Doctor poked his head out.

"Now, there's a thought," said Seo glancing off the edge of the cloud holding up the TARDIS in the sky. "Safety rails. You should definitely install safety rails around this thing. I mean, you don't want one of your companions tripping and falling to her death."

"I'm not taking any new companions," the Doctor said. "I told you. I'm retired." He sighed. Then opened the door. "All right, Seo. Whatever you want this time, come on in and we can discuss it."

Seo shot him an incredulous look. "You must be kidding."

"More comfortable in here than it is out there," the Doctor replied.

"The moment I step inside your ship, you're going to take off and leave me stranded somewhere," Seo replied. She pointed at him. "You're the one who's been trying to kidnap me."

The Doctor paused a second too long.

"No, I'm not," he insisted, a little weakly.

"And," Seo continued, "you've been really rubbish about it, in the hopes that I'd come into your TARDIS to complain, and you could take advantage and actually whisk me away."

The Doctor didn't say anything for a very long time.

"It's snowing out there," he pointed out.

Seo looked up at the sky.

Snow couldn't hurt her.

Going into the TARDIS… that really could.

"Well," the Doctor sighed, "if you're going to be difficult about it." He yanked down a lever.

And Seo yelped, as she felt an invisible force wall contracting around her, dragging her towards the ship. She tried to claw her way free, but couldn't gain a purchase. At the last possible moment, she managed to grab out at the edges of the door-jam, lodging herself half inside, half outside the TARDIS.

"Are you still trying to make me leave?" Seo glared at him. "I thought we had a deal. You sulk in here, while I save the world out there."

"While you try to save the world, you mean," the Doctor muttered, running over to the central console and trying to modify the force wall to actually get her inside the TARDIS. "Not the same thing."

Seo stared at him. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, let's face it, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed," said the Doctor. "You know nothing at all about the world. Or the universe. You can't form a plan to save your life, so you have to make it all up as you go along. You're stubborn, impulsive, and reckless. And no matter how much you try, you'll never be as brilliantly heroic as me. Or your mum."

Seo felt her jaw drop.

"So I've decided to intervene," the Doctor said. "Pull you out of danger, while I still can. Before you hurt yourself, or anyone else around you."

Seo managed to tear herself free from the energy force-wall. "It was one mistake!"

"And how much will the next one cost you?" the Doctor demanded. "You've destroyed at least one and a half universes, so far, that I know of. It doesn't matter how much you think you're like your mum — you're not. And you never will be."

Seo stared at him.

"And I know," the Doctor added, in an even darker voice, "your part in her death, Seo."

Seo turned, and tore her way down the spiral staircase, away from the TARDIS cloud. "Leave me alone."

The Doctor sprung forwards. "Seo!"

"I said leave me alone!" Seo shouted, racing faster. She was trying to fight back tears, as she ran away from him. Flipping down to the ground when she got near enough that she could, then tearing off through the streets.

She ran straight into Strax.

They both stumbled backwards. Then recognized one another.

"I thought you might engage in some tactical military training exercises," said Strax. He raised up a rocket launcher. "We can—"

Seo shoved him out of the way.

And tore off down the street.

* * *

><p>The Doctor skidded into view seconds after Seo left.<p>

Then slowed.

And stopped, beside Strax.

His face unreadable, as he stared off through the snow. "Yes, I thought she'd go there."

"Your cloneling seemed very upset, sir," Strax noted. "She did not wish to engage in the use of tactical explosives for combat training purposes. Most unlike her."

The Doctor didn't answer.

"What did you do?" Strax asked him.

"To save her life?" The Doctor kept staring through the snow. "I made her hate me." He reached into his jacket pocket. "Time for step two."


	11. Chapter 11

"Open!" Seo shouted, grabbing at the door to her ship. Yanking and tearing at it. "Open! Open up, now!"

It didn't budge.

Seo stood out there, in the snow. Watching as the snowflakes piled up, on top of her ship. On top of that strange blue rope that kept her locked out.

"Oh, just crumble into dust already!" Seo screamed at it, squeezing her eyes shut and stamping in the snow. "And get away from my ship!"

When she opened her eyes… the blue rope had crumbled away.

Completely.

All of Seo's anger fell away in an instant. Replaced by… shock. Confusion. And… curiosity. She reached forwards, towards the side of her ship. "Did you do that?"

No answer.

"No," Seo told herself. "That's daft. The ship's completely mechanical. It's not sentient. It can't… crumble rope."

She trudged back, a little bit. Watching the snowflakes melt as they hit the ground.

She'd wished it… and it had happened.

Not the ship, then. It must be her who'd done it.

"I wonder if that works with other things, too," said Seo. Looking around. "Maybe… if I wish for something really, really hard… it'll happen." Shuddering, as she recalled all the stories she'd heard from Mom and Aunt Dawn about vengeance demons.

Turned away from her ship.

"Be careful what you wish for, Seo," she warned herself. Put her key back in her pocket. "Maybe… leaving isn't the best idea. Maybe…"

Her mind was already starting to race.

Jenny Flint and Madam Vastra had said they were expecting something odd, hadn't they? And this was definitely odd. What if this was something she needed to stick around and fix? What if…?

"If they need me, then I can't leave," Seo decided. Feeling stubborn and determined. "Not until I know what's really happening here. And… and… maybe I can fix it, all by myself. Then Father will have to admit he was just saying all that to get a rise out of me! Because I'll be so obviously brilliant!"

She raced away from her ship.

* * *

><p>Nearby, Dr. Simeon stood. Looking on at the scene.<p>

"You were right," said Simeon. "A very powerful mind. So little of our plan complete, and she's already manipulated it to work to her advantage."

"She is with the detectives," said the snowman beside him. "Madam Vastra and Jenny Flint."

"Then we should kill her," said Simeon.

The snowman paused.

"No," it said, at last. "If we attack, she'd know of us. Might defeat us. If we don't… if she thinks there is nothing… she will leave."

"You think we can fool her?"

"I can see it in her mind," said the snowman. "For all her intelligence, she is prone to making rather drastic mistakes."

* * *

><p>"Oh, she'll break through that rope and get into her ship at some point," the Doctor explained to Strax. "She isn't daft. Moment she stops raging and fuming, she'll work out what tool she needs and where to find it. Then cut the rope and get into her ship." He tweaked his sonic screwdriver. "But this'll give me a bit of extra time."<p>

"Time?" said Strax.

"I made sure this would work back when she first built this ship," the Doctor explained, fiddling with his sonic. "Get just the right frequency, and I can control exactly where her ship goes. No override possible. I get her somewhere she can't leave. Then tweak the frequency a little bit more. And I'll stop her ship from ever leaving that planet, again."

Strax nodded.

"Sir," he said. "Permission to state my disgust towards your current plan?"

The Doctor ignored him. "Just have to wait until I hear her start to leave. Then…" He pointed the sonic screwdriver.

A figure emerged in the distance.

It was Seo.

"I'm not leaving," Seo said. "You can tell me a thousand lies to make me upset enough to run away. You can find all my weak points and dig in. Threaten me. Try to kidnap me. Point screwdrivers at me! But it won't matter." She met his eyes with hers. "I'm staying here."

The Doctor sighed.

Time for plan B.

He adjusted the settings on the sonic screwdriver, and pointed it just beside Seo. The machinery he'd placed there, earlier, sparked and flickered, then sent a wobbly sort of haze through the air.

Seo staggered.

"Sonic resonance on an ultralight convertor," said the Doctor. Advancing towards her. "Should knock out your super-strength for… well, as long as it takes to get you away from here."

He grabbed her beneath the arm, and started leading her away. Back to his TARDIS.

Seo struggled, weakly, against him.

"Why do you keep doing this?" she demanded.

"I told you why," the Doctor replied. "Because you're a thick-headed, mistake-prone bungler, who can't be trusted with—"

"Lies are words, words, words," Seo retorted. "I want the truth."

He looked over at her.

One word.

The one he'd never wanted to say aloud.

The reason for everything he'd ever done to her.

"Fate," the Doctor said.

"What?" Seo cried. "Rubbish! There's no such thing."

The Doctor turned on her. "Either you go somewhere nice and safe, in your ship, by yourself," he said. "Or you come with me, and I find you somewhere nice and safe to drop you off, so you can live out the rest of your days with the quiet, domestic life you deserve. You'll be safe, and I'll be free to stay here, getting on with—"

"What? Sulking?!" Seo struggled, again, managing to shrug him off. But he twisted her around and grabbed her wrist before she could escape. Tugging her along behind. "Or just being the most miserable excuse for a father that ever existed!"

She was giving him that look, too.

The teenager look.

He hated that look.

"It's for the best," the Doctor insisted, looking away. "It'll keep you out of trouble. And… stop giving me that look!" He could feel it boring into the back of his head, even when he wasn't looking. "Susan used to give me that look — and she was wrong, too!"

"Mom was five times the superhero you are," Seo hissed.

Yes, she was.

Then she'd met him.

And look at what had happened to her, as a result.

"I'm retired," the Doctor insisted. "That means I don't have time to go chasing around the universe, after you, making sure—"

"Strax!" Seo screamed.

The Doctor only just had time to turn around, before a bulky Sontaran charged into him, throwing him away from Seo and against the ground.

"You could double as a bowling ball," Seo told Strax, giving him a wide grin and bouncing on her toes. "You know that?"

The Doctor sat up. Rubbing his sore back.

"Strax," he complained. "What are you doing siding with her? You're supposed to be my friend."

"Few females can prove their spirit matches that of the mighty Sontaran," Strax replied. Gestured at Seo. "Your cloneling has proven herself in battle. Nor did she cry out, when she was injured. She has the heart of a warrior."

"Also, Strax really liked my chocolate," Seo added. She put an arm around Strax — who, next to her, didn't look all that short, anymore. "And I really like all his explosives."

The Doctor rolled back to his feet. "If you ever meet Ace," he muttered. "The universe is doomed."

"I have met Ace!"

The Doctor looked at Seo, for a long time. Then shook his head.

"That tears it," he decided, reaching over to grab her again. "You're definitely coming with me."

But Seo was quicker than he'd expected, rolling out of the way of the advance and dodging his next one.

"I'm staying!" Seo insisted. "And having adventures here! You can't tell me what to do!"

"And this is why I swore never to have companions, again!" the Doctor complained, reaching out and trying to catch her. "They always wander off, never do what you say, and they never — ever — listen!"

"Companion?!" Seo shouted. "I'm not a companion!" She stomped her foot in the snow. "You're retired. So this is my story, now. That means I'm the hero! You're the side-kick."

Something about the way she said that… prickled at every one of the Doctor's greatest fears.

He needed to get her out of there.

Right now.

He lunged for her, trying to tackle her to the ground, but she got out of the way just in time.

"Why are you so eager to get rid of me, again?" Seo said, somersaulting to avoid yet another grab. "I thought we'd gotten over that! What changed your mind?"

"I… just…" The Doctor stopped trying to reach for her. His head sunk, snow falling on his floppy hair. "I thought I didn't care. I thought I could shut myself away and convince myself it didn't matter if you lived or died."

Seo stared at him.

"But it does," said the Doctor. "I involved myself where I shouldn't, I cared about one person, and now… that's it. That's the end. You're going to die, and I can't let you."

For a few long moments, they stood there.

Two figures.

Silent, in the snow.

"You're scared," Seo realized.

"Yes."

"You think I'm going to die!" Seo said. She stumbled backwards. "That's why you said every second you get close to me, you get closer to losing me. It's why you tried to disable my ship when I first built it. It's why you won't trust me to save the world without… following me around everywhere, or dumping me somewhere safe after you retire!"

"Yes."

Once again, silence fell, between them.

Their breath misting in the cold air. No words able to be spoken.

Until the silence cracked.

And shattered.

"How can you even say that?" Seo whispered.

The Doctor blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"I thought you were just trying to drive me away, before," said Seo. "But you weren't. You really don't think I can survive on my own, out there. You really think I'm some… thick-headed child who blunders in and mucks things up! You think I'm going to fail!"

"You are going to fail, Seo!" the Doctor shouted, losing his temper completely. "You were always going to fail. And you will always fail! It's not something that can be changed!"

For a few moments, a heavy silence fell between them.

Heavier than even the strange snow.

"I'm sorry, but… it's not an opinion," the Doctor said, trying to calm himself. "It's a fact. You're not your mum. And if I let you out into the universe to be some sort of hero, like she was — you're going to fail."

Seo stepped back. Betrayal springing up on her face.

"And I've tried not caring," the Doctor said. "I've tried actively preventing it. I've tried everything I can. But it's still going to happen. You're going to go out there, try to be like her. You'll fail. And then you'll die. And I can't let that happen. I just… can't!"

Seo stumbled a little.

Lost for words.

"You…" she said. "You… you…!"

Then she charged forwards, and smacked him.

"You… meanie!" Seo accused.

The smack would probably have hurt more if she'd been at full power.

Lucky escape for the Doctor.

Seo spun around, hair flying behind her. "Come on, Strax," she said, huffily. "I'm taking you up on your offer. I'll take as many pounds of explosives as you have handy." She glanced back behind her, and shouted, "Hopefully enough to blow up an entire TARDIS!"

The Doctor watched her go.

Slumping, as he did.

Then, certain he'd finally done his work and chased her away forever, he turned back away. Towards his TARDIS. Flipping the sonic screwdriver over and over in his hand.

Moment Seo dematerialized… he'd know.

And he'd do something about it.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Posting this a little early, because tonight is the start of Yom Kippur.

One more chapter in this story, then we'll be on to the next!

On a totally different note, I've come up with a really cool story idea that takes Seo, Alison, and all the other original characters from this series out of fanfiction and into my own, completely independent thing. The focus would be on Seo and little Chiara, and a lot of the stuff about Glory, Cybermen, Daleks, etc would go away. But it would still have the same flavor as the stuff I'm writing here - a little funny, a little serious, cool space-magic stuff but with real emotional stuff behind it. Oh, and time travel. It'll also have time travel (I've got some cool ideas about that, actually).

I'm still very much in the planning stages, but... what do you guys think? Would you still read my stories if they didn't have copyrighted characters and copyrighted universes as part of them?

Anyways.

G'mar Chatima Tova, everyone.

* * *

><p>Seo sat down on the pavement, her back against her ship, staring straight ahead. Through the snowfall. Stubbornly trying not to shiver, show she felt anything, or let the last few minutes get to her.<p>

"I have hand grenades," Strax said, taking out a container and showing her samples. "Rocket grenades. Plasma cannons. And high intensity fusion propellant. That should lift your spirits."

For the first time, though, Seo didn't seem to care about the explosives.

Not at all.

"Do _you_ think I'm a failure?" Seo asked, very quietly.

Strax lowered the grenade back into the crate. "You are a very young female," he observed. "With weak skin. But you are brave and strong. And you do not fear death. That is good."

Seo wasn't sure most of that was true.

But she still appreciated that Strax had said it.

"I just… still can't believe Father said that," Seo told him. Hanging her head. "He _meant_ it, too. I could tell! Usually, everything he says is rubbish and he's trying to get you to do something. But… he meant every single word he said. He _really_ believes I'm a failure. He _really_ believes I can't ever be… like… Mom."

Strax thought about it.

Then gave an officious nod. "Yes, I believe he does."

"First Aunt Dawn, and now Father! I mean, I've done good things in the past! I can do good things in the future, too! It's just…" She swallowed, hard. "I… made… one really huge mistake."

She couldn't forgive herself for that.

Never would.

Strax gave an officious nod. "I see," he said. "On the backs of many victories, you suffered a single defeat. And have lost the respect of your superiors."

Seo's head shot up, her eyes glaring. "He is _not_ my superior!"

Strax didn't answer.

And Seo sighed. And gave in. "Look, I know he's my father," she admitted. "And he's older, wiser, and has far more experience than I do. But… I'm not that bad! I just…" She paused. Then, in a smaller voice, "Mom's death was my fault. I have to make it up to her. I have to… be as good as her. Be the hero she always was."

"You don't need the Doctor in order to do that."

"Maybe I need him to believe I can."

But he'd never have faith in her. Or her abilities. That's what she'd learned, today.

Strax took a step towards her. "There is a time, in every cloneling's life," he offered, "when he must step out of the shadow of his chief commanding officer, and accomplish a daring mission in which he slaughters the Rutan scum, and watches their corpses float off into the deadly vacuum of space!" He offered her a supportive smile. "Perhaps… you need something like that."

"But I've done that!" Seo said. Pointed back towards where she'd left her father. "He never listens! He never cares! No matter how much I try, he'll never see me as more than… a failure."

She buried her face in her hands.

"And maybe he's right," she muttered. "_He'd_ have saved Mom, if he'd been there. I couldn't even do that. I'm… worthless." She lifted up her face. "What do they do, on Sontar, when clonelings massively fail and ultimately prove themselves worthless?"

"We boil them down into their constituent atoms," Strax explained, proudly, "and then recreate a newer, better Sontaran in their place — free from weakness!"

Seo slumped in place.

And Strax faltered.

"But you are not weak and puny enough for the vats!" Strax put in, hastily. "Any Sontaran demonstrating strength and potential like yours… would have a single chance to redeem himself. For the glory of Sontar!"

Seo looked up. Interested. "How?"

"To redeem one's honor, as a Sontaran," Strax replied, "one must bathe in the blood of his enemies. The disgraced Sontaran must find the bloodiest, most brutal and most one-sided battle, with all odds stacked against him, and plunge himself directly into the middle of it. His obliteration of the Rutan scum will redeem him in the eyes of his commanders."

Seo thought about this.

Long and hard.

Then a smile crept up onto her face.

"You're right," she said. Leapt to her feet, throwing her arms around Strax. "Oh, you're right! That's it! That's what I have to do!"

Strax squirmed a little. Seeming very uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the idea of… a 'hug'.

"I've got all sorts of history books, in my ship!" Seo said, pulling away. Her face alight. "I just have to look through them. Find the most dismal, most hopeless case of oppression the universe has to offer, and set it right! All by myself!" She beamed. "Then, back here, you'll get my father to open up the book, and see what I've done. Then he'll have to admit I'm worthy of carrying on in Mom's place!"

Strax looked on at her. Impressed. "You would place yourself in a battle with no hope of victory, confident of your success?"

"Of course!" said Seo, throwing her arms open. "Just look at me! I'm brilliant!"

She spun around, raced into her ship. A delighted beam on her face.

Strax looked after her. Then followed her inside, with a firm and content nod.

"If the Sontaran army were cloned from you, little cloneling," Strax decided, "the Rutan scum would have been annihilated long ago. No doubt about it."

* * *

><p>Seo found it.<p>

It took a lot of time and effort to figure out exactly where she needed to go and what she could do that would make a difference big enough to impact the history books, but… she found one.

"It's a bit beyond the range of my ship," Seo said, racing around the central console. "But… thing is… Father's established a link between his ship and mine. Probably trying to make sure he could always control where I went." She yanked open the top of the console, and switched some things around. "But this ship still uses _me_ as an energy convertor." She clanged the top of the console shut. "Which means I can drain power from his ship to give mine a little boost. That'll get me back there. Then, when I'm safely in the past, you can show him that book."

She threw it at Strax, who caught it.

Began to open it.

"No peeking!" Seo insisted, running over and snapping it shut. "I haven't done anything, yet! You can't read the end of what I'm going to do until I've actually done it."

Strax didn't understand this.

But nodded his acceptance.

"I'm going to give this my all, Strax," Seo told him. "It's the most horrible, evil, and gigantic enemy I've ever faced. The worst I could find. And I'm going to be the one to take it down. I'll do all the research. All the clever bits. I'll help the good guys, give a second chance to the bad guys, and… and…" Her face broke into a wide smile. "And I'll make my parents proud!"

"But how will you evade the Doctor's attempts to control your flight using the sonic screwdriver?" said Strax.

Seo's eyes twinkled. "Now that's the really clever bit." She looked around herself. Then leaned down. Whispered, "Have you noticed something… odd, recently?"

Strax had not.

"Earlier, I wished really, _really_ hard for something," said Seo, "and it happened! I'm betting there's some sort of… vengeance demon around. Or something telepathic, at any rate. I use that — and I can scramble the readings."

Strax was suddenly alarmed. "But if there is a 'vengeance demon' or 'something telepathic' around," he argued, "surely we should obliterate it!"

"Oh, I'll deal with it when I get back," Seo said, waving it off. "I'm only a hundred and five years old, Strax! I've got twelve more regenerations of life left in me! I can defeat _everyone's_ evil monsters, and still have time to stop for tea in the middle!"

Strax nodded.

"Now, shoo!" said Seo waving him out of the ship. "Go find my father. And get ready to see the pride swell across his face. Because I'm going to make a difference!"

Strax saluted her, then ran outside of the ship.

Watched, as the doors shut, and her ship began to slowly fade from sight. A golden haze shimmering around it, as Seo siphoned off the extra energy she needed to jump back to the point in history she'd chosen. The place she knew she could prove herself.

"Godspeed, little cloneling," said Strax. Giving her a final salute. "Godspeed."


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: And the end. As usual, this story ends where the Doctor Who canon begins - we all knew this was coming, eventually. The Doctor will go on to meet Clara in the Christmas Special that involves snowmen. And everything will happen like it did on TV.

Next up: "Acathla". Then, a story in which we finally get to find out what Ace said to the Doctor.

In regards to what I mentioned in my last post, it's looking like people aren't terribly enthusiastic about moving this out of fanfiction. We'll see what happens. I still like my idea a lot, but maybe it's just not destined to be written.

Anyways.

Enjoy the end of this story!

* * *

><p>The Doctor was suspicious from the first moment he'd seen Strax, after Seo left.<p>

Strax had, of course, tried to do his best to act normal.

But his best wasn't good enough.

"You're a walking potato who usually wants to blow up anything that moves," the Doctor pointed out. "But you haven't suggested one weapon I should be using, yet. And, for some reason, you're reading a book."

Strax attempted to make it seem like he was just being clever and sophisticated.

Which wasn't helped when the Doctor snatched the book out of his hands, and turned it right side up.

"What is this?" the Doctor asked, flipping to the front cover. "A History of…"

He stopped.

Stared.

Then looked back at Strax.

"What did you do?" he whispered. Then, his entire face growing stormy, screamed, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"She has defeated the Empire, sir!" said Strax, proudly. He pointed at the book. "She found the most evil, traitorous, and undefeatable empire imaginable — the Irkoli Empire — and, by now, has already taken her place in history. She will achieve glorious victory over the Rutan — I mean Irkoli — scum!"

"You idiot!" shouted the Doctor, thumping the book on Strax's head. Then jumping into the carriage. "Get me back to the TARDIS. Now! She's out of range of the sonic, but I can still intercept her with the TARDIS. I can still turn her back!"

They galloped as fast as they could.

The Doctor jumping out of the carriage when they arrived, then racing up the steps two — then three — at a time, to get to his ship. Seeming more panicked and terrified every minute he delayed.

He burst into the TARDIS, frantically pushing and poking and pounding at levers and knobs and switches.

The TARDIS gave a little groan.

But didn't respond.

"She's… she's drained all the power from the engines," the Doctor realized. Stepping back, as it crashed across him. A look of… defeat. "I can't stop it. It's already happened, she's already there, and… and… I can't stop it! Not with the sonic, not with the TARDIS, not with… anything."

"Perhaps, sir, you should look at the book," Strax urged. "Your cloneling is brave and noble. Perhaps you are wrong, and she has — in fact — beat the Irkoli scum, obliterated their Empire from the face of the universe, and—"

The Doctor plucked the book from Strax's hands.

Opened it to a page.

And plonked it down in front of him.

"There," he said. Pointing to the graphic illustration, portraying the body of one of the most cherished fallen heroes of the Irkoli Empire. A graphic illustration… of Seo. "That's what happened to her, Strax." He turned back to the central console, kicked it, viciously. "And I knew! From the moment she built that ship, I knew… this was her fate. Everything I've ever done to her, since… was to try to delay this point in her life, so she'd actually _survive_ it."

Strax stared.

Then stared at the text below it. The text which described… the unsuccessful rebellion which led, ultimately, to her downfall.

"I was looking for Time Lords, after the War," said the Doctor, with a sigh. Standing back, leaning over the central console of his ship. His face… lost. And alone. "I traced what I thought was… another TARDIS. Except it wasn't one. It was a little piece of coral from _my_ TARDIS. Along with the ruins… of a glass ship."

Strax remembered Seo's ship.

With all its glass panels.

"After I met Seo — after she built her ship and passed her tests — I went back to where I'd found the ruins of that same ship," said the Doctor. "Tried to find her. Hoped she'd be somewhere nearby, somewhere I could dig her out. But… I couldn't. I could never, ever find her." He kicked the central console, again. "I lost her, Strax! If she'd had more time, if she'd been older, maybe…!"

"She… is dead?" said Strax.

The Doctor turned away. "Worse," he said. "So much worse. A living death. And it'll _never_ end."

That did not make a lot of sense to Strax.

"Even if I could find her body, I can't bring her back," said the Doctor. "Not now. And because of that — all the lives she could have led! All the people she could have been and the things she could have done! A whole potential future… wiped out."

Strax didn't know what to say.

The Doctor shook his head. "I did it again, Strax. I let one person into my life… and now she's gone. My fault!" He closed his eyes, bitterly. "I should never have let her remember seeing me here. If I'd turned her away — she'd still be alive now."

"I don't understand how that follows, sir," Strax replied.

But the Doctor wasn't listening, anymore.

He was done with the world.

Done with people.

Forever.

* * *

><p>"The Doctor's worse than ever, now," said Jenny Flint, as they tracked down the elusive Doctor Simeon on the streets of London. "We thought he was bad, before, but… he's not taking any chances, now."<p>

"I heard," said Madam Vastra. "The memory worm."

According to Strax, the Doctor had begun taking it with him, everywhere he went. Anyone he met… even accidentally… and he'd wipe their memory. Make them forget the last hour of their life.

"It's sad," said Jenny Flint. "He knew he'd lose her like this. But he was so desperate not to… he drove her right into it."

"Fate," Madam Vastra said.

Repeating the word she'd heard him use.

That one word.

"No. Loneliness," Jenny countered.

They looked at one another. A married couple who loved one another more than anything. And protected the friend that had once been kind, and was now withdrawn, isolated, and cruel.

"Then… 'Grief'," Madam Vastra agreed.

"Then 'Pain'."

"And finally?"

"'Loss'."

They held each other's hands.

As they raced off into the night. Trying to track down Dr. Simeon — a man whom only the Doctor could defeat.

Knowing… the Doctor never would.


End file.
